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A comment on New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy. Parent comment

Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by bobbylarrybobby on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @07:21PM (#23695956)
It's not just that it was an executable. The real issue is that Little Snitch is distributed as a pkg (not that that's the developers' fault, as there's no way to implement the app's functionality with just a simple app). But distributing it as a pkg that requires installation with an admin password is how the malware takes hold of a user's computer. AFAIK it is always safe to open an app you download from the web (although the app may not respect your privacy).
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Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by saagarjha on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @07:22PM (#23695961)
> The real issue is that Little Snitch is distributed as a pkg (not that that's the developers' fault, as there's no way to implement the app's functionality with just a simple app).

In Big Sur, it might be.

> AFAIK it is always safe to open an app you download from the web (although the app may not respect your privacy).

Apps can still encrypt your disk this way.

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Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by bobbylarrybobby on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @07:28PM (#23696011)
Does apple not throw up a permission dialog whenever an app tries to access just about any part of your filesystem? Like this:

https://nektony.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/grant-acces-d...

I could be wrong, maybe it's only for certain kinds of apps.

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Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by comex on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @12:49AM (#23697839)
That’s for all apps, but only for specific parts of the filesystem, so there’s still plenty of room for apps to cause havoc by messing with everything else.

This is separate from the older sandboxing feature that’s designed to fully isolate apps from the rest of the system, which is mandatory for Mac App Store apps but opt-in for other apps.

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Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by saagarjha on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @04:32AM (#23699233)
Mandatory for new Mac App Store apps
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Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by michaelmrose on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @09:29PM (#23696773)
>FAIK it is always safe to open an app you download from the web

No its not various ways to break out of sandboxes exist.

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Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by Wowfunhappy on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @10:58PM (#23697299)
And you don't even know that the app is sandboxed!
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Re:New Mac ransomware spreading through piracy by fortran77 on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @11:34PM (#23697498)
The real issue is people are trying to steal it and getting fooled by a malicious site.
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